España, el tercer país del mundo con mayor libertad de expresión tras EEUU y Polonia

PEW RESEARCH CENTER.- To get a summary measure of support for free expression around the world, we built an index based on five survey questions about free speech and three about free media. Using this measure, Americans emerge as the biggest supporters of free expression among the 38 nations studied. And unlike so many other issues in the U.S., wide open, free-ranging public debate has an appeal across party lines. There are relatively few differences between Democrats, Republicans and independents when it comes to free expression.

However, there are some important generational differences on this issue. For instance, 40% of U.S. Millennials think the government should be able to prevent people from making statements that are offensive to minority groups, compared with 27% of those in Generation X, 24% of Baby Boomers, and just 12% of Silent Generation Americans. Nonwhite respondents (38%) are also more likely to hold this view than whites (23%).

Apart from debates over whether offensive language should be legal, most Americans believe people are just too easily offended nowadays. In a 2016 Pew Research Center survey, 59% agreed with the statement “Too many people are easily offended these days over the language that others use,” while only 39% said “people need to be more careful about the language they use to avoid offending people with different backgrounds.”

On this question, however, there is a sharp partisan divide. Nearly eight-in-ten Republicans (78%) and 68% of independents say people are too easily offended these days, compared with just 37% of Democrats. And supporters of the major party nominees see this issue very differently. Among registered voters, 83% of Donald Trump supporters believe too many people are easily offended; only 39% of Hillary Clinton voters agree.

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